Evanston's City Council on Nov. 24 adopted the city's fiscal year 2026 budget and approved a corrected property-tax levy after a lengthy discussion about whether to use excess reserves to help close funding gaps.

Council member Rogers moved adoption of the FY2026 budget (Ordinance 56-O-25); the measure passed unanimously. Council member Kelly later moved adoption of a corrected version of Ordinance 57-O-25, which adjusts numbers in the tax-levy schedule and pensions line items. The corrected figures shown in the council memo list the fire pension at $9,838,575 and the police pension at $10,651,282, with a total levy figure of $38,478,400 (excluding debt service, general assistance and the library). The levy correction passed 6-2.

City staff told council the correction increases the planned draw on reserves from about $9,000,000 to roughly $12,000,000. Staff also said the city has seen roughly $27,000,000 in increases for salaries and benefits and about $9,000,000 in increases for public-safety pension contributions over recent years, and that one-time permit revenues helped balance recent budgets.

Several council members pressed for caution about using reserves. Council member Ailes said she favored small, incremental revenue changes rather than relying on reserve draws, calling it "kicking our problem further down the road." Council member Nussbaum said reducing the levy now risks creating a larger gap later and could politicize pension funding; he urged commitment to fully funding pensions by 2040. "We don't have enough money in the reserves to draw down anymore," he said, and urged consideration of a modest levy increase to avoid deeper hikes in future years.

Council member Rogers countered that this action would draw on "excess reserves," not the core reserve policy level the council has agreed to maintain, and said the city had a prior resolution authorizing use of excess reserves for pension funding. Rogers said she would support the correction while exploring an indexed approach to future levies (for example, tying annual changes to inflation).

The council also discussed the broader budget strategy: staff said the proposed budget used one-time permit revenues in prior years to balance the books and presented forecasts that show pressures from wages, benefits, and pensions. Council members suggested staff may return with scenarios showing the long-term consequences of shifting short-term costs to reserves.

The corrected levy (Ordinance 57-O-25) was adopted on a recorded roll call with six votes in favor and two against. The FY2026 budget (Ordinance 56-O-25) was adopted unanimously.